Immortal Map

"As soon as there is any news, I will report it at once!"

Ma Zude, commander-in-chief of the Palace Guard, knelt on the floor, his forehead almost touching the golden bricks. "Rest assured, Your Majesty," he said cautiously. "I have ordered men to spread eyes and ears throughout the nearby waters... as long as... as long as there is any unusual movement, nothing will escape our grasp..."

After a long silence, a majestic voice said mildly, "Mm... you may withdraw!" As though granted a great pardon, Ma Zude rose, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and cautiously retreated.

Several braziers stood on the floor inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, filled with the finest smokeless animal-shaped charcoal. The hall was as warm as spring. A few sprigs of wintersweet stood in a porcelain vase, their blossoms as delicate and lovely as the cheeks of the palace maids attending nearby.

Beyond an enormous screen painted with an ink-wash landscape, thin wisps of sandalwood smoke curled upward, filling the air with a fragrance like orchids and musk.

Emperor Chen wore a bright yellow dragon robe and a golden crown. Reclining on his side on the dragon couch, he propped his chin on one hand, his eyes half closed. After a long while, he said languidly, "Imperial Preceptor, oh, Imperial Preceptor... I really do miss you a little!"

The chief eunuch Zhao Qin stood impassively nearby. Zhao Delu, beside him, dared not speak either, lowering his head and pretending to arrange the memorials on the desk.

Emperor Chen raised his head and glanced indifferently at the two eunuchs. He narrowed his eyes at the sky outside and shifted the brocade quilt beneath his shoulder. "Delu, keep reading!"

The palace maids beside the dragon couch responded at once. One bent down to gently massage Emperor Chen's calves, while another brought several fruit platters from a nearby table. They held candied fruit, dried nuts, and even a bunch of grapes so green they seemed ready to drip.

It was the bitterest stretch of winter, with biting winds outside. Fresh grapes in such a season were exceedingly rare-a glimpse of the Great Chen Empire's wealth.

The grapes had just been washed, and crystalline droplets clung to them, making them look like agates. A maid bent down, gently peeled a grape, then carefully removed its seeds with a silver hairpin before offering the flesh to Emperor Chen's lips.

Emperor Chen lowered his lips and took her slender fingers, wet with sweet juice, into his mouth. A blush rose on the maid's face. Not daring to pull her fingers away, she could only turn her face aside, her body trembling slightly...

At his command, Zhao Delu picked up another memorial beside him and said cautiously, "This is a memorial from Grand Tutor Tang Zan... Your Majesty, this servant will read it now!" He cleared his throat and began.

"Set right the sovereign's way, clarify the ministers' duties, and seek order for ten thousand generations. The sovereign is the lord of all subjects and all things beneath Heaven. Precisely because he is their lord, his responsibilities are most weighty. Under Tyrant Liang of old, flattery and blind obedience kept calamities hidden from the sovereign's hearing; such conduct is beneath discussion. Having received the state's profound grace, I humbly lay bare my liver and gall to speak to Your Majesty..."

Zhao Delu paused, coughed lightly, and continued, "The Former Emperor was benevolent and gentle by nature, merciful, respectful, and frugal, possessing the admirable virtue of loving his people. How does Your Majesty judge yourself in comparison with him? All beneath Heaven rejoiced and looked to you for great achievements. Yet your diligent resolve scarcely endured. Possessing the wealth of the four seas, you fail to say, 'Here lies the people's fat and marrow,' and instead lavishly undertake construction..."

At this, Emperor Chen spat out a grape with a "Pah!" The maids attending him dropped to their knees in fright.

He rolled upright and jumped barefoot from the dragon couch. His expression darkened as he held out a broad hand. "Stop reading. Give it to me!"

Zhao Delu dared not delay. Holding the memorial in both hands, he approached with short, quick steps and respectfully presented it to Emperor Chen.

Emperor Chen unfolded the memorial and read it closely, his brows furrowed. Soon his breathing grew heavier, and his face darkened as though water might drip from it.

"Outrageous! Utterly insolent!"

The hand holding the memorial trembled violently. Emperor Chen suddenly hurled it hard onto the floor and cursed in fury, "The unruly people punish wrongdoing? Whose wrongdoing are they punishing?"

Seeing the emperor's wrath, Zhao Delu and all the palace maids prostrated themselves in terror. Even the air in the hall seemed to turn icy.

"That muddleheaded old fool... he even advises me to draw close to worthy ministers and keep petty men at a distance. Who are these petty men? Of all the civil and military officials at court, is Grand Tutor Tang the only worthy minister? Am I some hopeless Adou who cannot be propped up?"

Emperor Chen paced back and forth, breathing angrily, then jabbed a finger at the chief eunuch Zhao Qin. "Convey my verbal decree at once: Grand Tutor Tang Zan is a pillar of the state, advanced in years and esteemed in virtue. Mindful of his frailty and frequent illnesses, which render him unfit for toil, I grant him gold, silver, brocades, horses, a carriage, and a staff. Effective immediately... let him retire to his native home!"

Zhao Qin acknowledged the command, rose, and hurried off to deliver the decree. As he opened the hall doors, a blast of cold wind struck his face.

Outside, white snow blanketed everything. Icicles several feet long hung beneath the palace eaves, glittering in the sun's warmthless light like sharp swords.

Silence settled over the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Once Emperor Chen had vented his anger, Zhao Delu quickly had a maid bring him a bowl of snow dendrobium and white fungus soup.

Emperor Chen tasted a spoonful. Its temperature was just right, its texture soft and smooth, its lingering flavor delicate. His expression eased slightly. He waved a hand. "All of you, withdraw! Delu, give the order. I wish to visit the Longevity Hall!"

"His Majesty departs!"

As a young eunuch's clear cry rang beneath the eaves of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, eunuchs and maids streamed out from beside the hall with a rustle of clothing. They carried the imperial palanquin over, helped the emperor aboard, and headed toward the rear halls.

The imperial palanquin was so tightly enclosed that not a trace of the biting wind could enter. Emperor Chen sat with his eyes half closed and his chin propped on his hand, lost in unknowable thoughts. His palm slowly stroked a small, pleasantly hot charcoal stove. After a long while, he sighed, opened his eyes, and gazed at the Imperial Palace, familiar to the point of weariness.

Red brick, green tiles, glazed roofs; snow piled on branches, and a few wintersweet trees bloomed defiantly in the cold wind. After winding past the Imperial Palace's many rear halls, the emperor's palanquin stopped before a secluded, somewhat shabby palace hall.

The doors stood ajar. Several eunuchs and armed guards waited outside. Someone had already swept and cleaned the place and carried braziers inside.

Zhao Delu carefully helped Emperor Chen down from the palanquin. The emperor walked slowly to the hall, then looked back at his attendants and pointed to an aged, decrepit eunuch. "Lu Aping shall accompany me inside. Delu and everyone else will remain outside. Without my summons, no one is to enter!"

The weather was clear and cold. Emperor Chen's words became white vapor that scattered in the wind. The eunuch named Lu Aping had wrinkled skin, crane-white hair, and dim eyes. At the command, he hunched his back and followed closely behind Emperor Chen.

The half-closed doors of the Longevity Hall creaked harshly as they were pushed open. Once Emperor Chen crossed the threshold, the light abruptly dimmed. A damp, moldy odor hung in the air. He frowned and continued inside.

Lu Aping followed him in and shakily closed the doors. Then he leaned beside them and shut his eyes to doze, looking utterly listless.

Emperor Chen walked along the Longevity Hall's broad corridor. Many everlasting lamps burned along its sides, their flickering flames casting his towering shadow onto the wall, where it moved slowly with him.

At the end of the corridor stood three steps. On the offering table above them were an incense burner, three sacrificial animals, and two spirit tablets. One bore the unmistakable inscription: "Spirit tablet of the Great Chen's founding emperor."

The Longevity Hall actually enshrined Zhao Zhen, founding emperor of the Great Chen Empire. The other spirit tablet belonged to the Eldest Prince. Yet the hall was bleak, cold, and sinister, its dilapidation and emptiness all the more apparent. Still, it suited the frugality that the Former Emperor Zhao Zhen had always advocated.

"Father... I... have come to see you. Last night, I dreamed of you. In my heart... I miss you terribly!"

Emperor Chen's voice rose from below the steps. His nostrils quivered, and his voice grew choked. "Elder brother... back then, the three of us, father and sons, fought our way from Chengdu Commandery to the Capital, Bianliang. How many hardships did we endure before reaching where we are today? As the saying goes, fathers and sons take the battlefield together, and brothers fight tigers side by side. But now... only I remain, utterly alone. Father, elder brother, I... miss you both..."

Moisture shone at the corners of Emperor Chen's eyes, and his words rang with heartfelt sincerity. He slowly sat on the steps, picked up a stack of yellow paper beside him, and tossed it into the brazier. The dazzling firelight reddened his cheeks. His mustache curled, his thick brows, dark as undiluted ink, knitted tightly, and a flame flickered in his eyes.

"Elder brother, you taught me so much in those days. Everyone praised your affection as an elder brother and my respect as a younger one, our deep bond as brothers. Who could have imagined... that you and my sister-in-law would meet violent deaths in Qin Prefecture? And my poor nephew-supposedly... someone rescued him, yet there has been no word of him!"

At this, Emperor Chen raised his voice. "Elder brother! Elder brother! If you know what happens beneath the earth, come to me in a dream and tell me where my poor nephew is, so that uncle and nephew may be reunited!"

A stack of yellow paper landed in the brazier, sending up thick white smoke. It drifted toward the hall's towering pillars as faint crackles sounded.

Suddenly, a human figure slowly appeared against a golden silk nanmu pillar. White mist emanated from his entire body, obscuring his face.

"Who goes there?"

Emperor Chen stared warily and demanded in a deep voice, yet his face showed not a trace of panic.

"You have had the Shadow Guards investigating for so many years, and you still don't know? Why ask a question when you already know the answer?"

The figure in the white mist spoke in an ominous voice.

"You dare trespass in my forbidden palace and appear before me. What do you want?"

A cold gleam flashed in Emperor Chen's eyes as he rebuked him in a low voice.

"To make a deal with you!"

The figure in the white mist answered with a chuckle.

"Putting on an air of mystery... do you think I would casually make a deal with you?"

The corners of Emperor Chen's mouth lifted in a cold smile.

"You can make deals with that dwarf. What he cannot give you, I can!" the figure in the white mist said unhurriedly.

Emperor Chen's gaze tightened. "A deal? What can you give me? And what do you want?"

"I can kill someone for you-someone you want dead but cannot kill!" The man in the mist chuckled again, then continued, "As for what I want, it is simple-the Immortal Map!"

Emperor Chen's expression abruptly changed. He roared, "Insolence! Utter nonsense!"

The candlelight flickered. A faint silhouette, utterly unlike a mortal, drifted toward the pillar with astonishing speed.

The cloud of white mist flickered between light and shadow, moving swiftly.

A palm that seemed imbued with an immortal air beyond the mortal dust reached into the mist.

Clang, clang, ting, ting!

Amid a flurry of faint sounds like pear blossoms in a torrential storm, the faint silhouette floated down to the floor. One sleeve shattered inch by inch, exposing a withered, aged arm. It was Lu Aping, who had been standing guard by the door all along. He opened his hand. A gleaming silver needle lay pinched between two fingers, a drop of blood hanging from its tip.

The old eunuch now stood as still as a deep pool and as imposing as a mountain, a terrifying aura radiating from him. Where was any trace of his former decrepitude?

He shielded Emperor Chen, his once-clouded eyes blazing as he stared into the white mist, as though facing a formidable enemy.

"Good!" Emperor Chen suddenly said in a quiet voice.

"To think there is such an expert deep within the palace!... Wait for word from me!"

The white mist drifted slowly like a cloud as the man within spoke. Then, with a fluctuation of Primordial Energy, he vanished...

Emperor Chen rose and slowly headed outside. Lu Aping's body stooped, and he resumed his listless, decrepit appearance, following closely behind the emperor.

"Just now... what did you hear?"

Without looking back, Emperor Chen asked the question leisurely.

Lu Aping abruptly stopped. Suddenly, he extended two fingers and swiftly struck his own Jaw Cartilage Acupoint twice. A moment later, a thin trickle of blood flowed from each ear.

"Your Majesty, this old servant has gone deaf. I cannot hear what Your Majesty is saying!"

Lu Aping spoke each word distinctly. The graying hair at his temples trembled slightly; clearly, he was enduring tremendous pain.

A flicker of pity crossed Emperor Chen's face, only to be swiftly concealed. He reached out and pulled open the hall doors. The cold air outside pierced him, making him shiver despite himself.